geekent’s stuff’n things

What I’ve been noticing as I’ve been sifting through the dozens upon dozens of “best of” lists out there, is that everyone has their own tastes. What’s one person’s pap is another’s pop. Moreover what I’ve noticed - specifically in the mp3/music commentary blogosphere - is how limited most people’s musical tastes are… some people’s lists consist of purely fey twee artists, others consist of bands that are firmly entrenched in early 90’s sounding post-grunge.
And not that I’m the most diverse person out there, mind you. I’m not a huge consumer of world music, or new country, or reggae, or blues, or soul/r&b…I can appreciate some really great acts that emerge from those circles, but it’s generally not my listening pleasure. Yet, I do step beyond the borders of just the alt.rock/alt.country/alt.folk circle… you know the expected hipster stew pot/pony stable.
I’m not stuck in the past when it comes to what I like in most of my music, although with hip-hop I do have a tendency to lean towards sounds closer to new school (1988 - 94) era than Dizzee Rascal’s crunk or the mainstream thug thang.
I have no fond memories of the Pixies or of Nirvana, I pledge no allegiance to Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash, and the sounds of the 80’s aren’t generally fond memories for me. New takes on dated sounds are indeed new to me, and I judge things on how they please me. New takes on dated sounds can also still sound dated, though. Double edged sword and whatnot.
Music is always in slow progress, as artists take influence from other genres and eras to push the boundaries of their own. My favourite 7 albums list below is hopefully a reflection of this progress… a nod to the past while marching towards the future…
I’ve tried to pick albums that work in an album context and not albums that are just a couple of great singles packaged amidst filler. People are saying modern music is disparaging towards the album, companies eschewing the package for singles instead. But the mp3 blog and the iPod aren’t going to kill the industry, but moreover change it. An album is going to have to definitely be something more than a trio of hits in the mess of filler. Alternative music has never been about hit generation like the pop scene has. Indie/alt people in all genres make music because they love music first (not money or fame). Being commercial and viable is not what their lives are about, it’s the art and/or the message, refining their craft. These albums I hope reflect all this… albums that flow, that are repeatably listenable, and that make me nod my head, smile and sing or hum along (in alphabetical order)
1) The Arcade Fire - “Funeral”
What’s not surprising is how many best of lists have “Funeral” on it.
What is surprising is the number of lists that don’t have “Funeral” on them.
Is it from the lack of exposure or the inevitable indie-hipster sarcasto-snit-pomp-smarm-bomb that we knew would eventually hit these kids from Montreal who have blown up big, fast and hard (no innuendo meant)?
But try the album, and try a live show, and then just try to be cynical about them. Can’t be done.
Sheer jesus, “Funeral” is powerful and evocative and the it is solid from the first song to the last, played in any order.
If I were to rank albums numerically, this would come first anyway.
2) b. Fleischmann and Herbert Weixelbaum present Duo 505 - “Late”
I love, love, love this album.
Electronica has been dying a slow, steady death as its various techniques, blurps and warbles are co-opted into pop, alternative, and hip-hop… but it takes an album like “Late” to remind you what electronic music is all about…
It’s a symphony of manufactured sound, an orchestra of beeps and pings, pulses and tones, beats and rhythms… these seven sprawling layers of dense melodica please me unlike all albums electronic in the past five years, and unlike most other albums as well.
3) The Beastie Boys - “To The 5 Boroughs”
The Beastie Boys are most definitely an anomoly. They get the punk crowd, the hip-hop crowd, the indie crowd, and the mainstream poprocks crowd… and if Mike D did a bit more of his “Country Mike” schtick, they’d likely get the C&W crowd too. Their past releases had twisted genres and spun expectations around on a lazy susan, confusing die-hard guitar heads into liking rap, and forcing a bit of punk into the lives of b-boys.
But “To The 5 Boroughs” is unlike any Beastie Boys record, it’s more cohesive and themeatically sound, and also undeniably a straightforward rap album. With Mix Master Mike at the wheels and production board, the Boys have put together a shocking old-school album that takes you back to 1985 sonically but brings you here and now lyrically.
It’s a party album with a message, a b-boy record with purpose. It hits every mark the lads expected it to, and while some songs are undoubtedly catchier than others, it’s solid steel the whole way through.
Fresh.
4) The Futureheads - “The Futureheads”
My music history sucks. I couldn’t reference a band as inspiration that debuted before 1995, and even then I’d be fairly limited in my selection. I would like to say that I wish I knew more reference points from the ’70’s and ’80’s but whenever I listen to most album from those eras (with very few exceptions, but there are a few) I just can’t handle it, rough and simplified. But at the same time I can say: “Aaah, that’s where blank(artist) pulled inspiration for blank(album/song) from. Cool.”
I’m waiting for the day when someone plays for me the albums that inspired the Futureheads, not that I’ll appreciate that inspiration much more, because, hot damn, the Futureheads are amazing. Harmony, melody, chorals and rounds… the emphasis on vocals-as-instrument is shiver inducing. Much like TV On The Radio and Bjork, The Futureheads are looking to reinstate the voice as a commanding and powerful force, whether alone or in conjunction with one, two or ten others.
Each track stands out on its own, as they vary their tricks enough that the songs refuse to blend. From the cover of the album to the sounds inside, the inspiration is definitely the ’80’s but the mentality is in the future… natch!
5) Handsome Boy Modeling School - “White People”
The dark horse on my list for sure. The type of thing that perks an eyebrow or causes a reader to go “this guy don’t know what he’s talking about”… but I can’t help it, I love this album.
Yes, there is one damn dog awful song on the album, and there are a few sketchy others. But there are also some utterly fantastic songs, and regardless if they’re good or not they all push the limits of genres like no album has recently. With pairing of seriously fun-loving and innovative producers Dan the Automator with Prince Paul, that better be the result or there’s something wrong.
“White People” contains skits featuring former SNL-ers Tim Meadows and Father Guido Sarducci that space out and break up the songs. Like the classic De La Soul albums Paul produced back in the early ’90s, they’re humourous but also serve as a palette cleanser.
White People also puts De La and Paul back together for their best track in years, while Dres from the Black Sheep returns from obscurity (last seen 1994) for a great cut.
But it’s not just hip-hop, as Cat Power becomes a Sade-like soul chanteuse, the RZA teams with the Mars Volta, and Reggae powerhouse Barrington Levy teams with Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Alex Kapranos (of Franz Ferdinand).
Even the dog tracks (The Hours-Feat. Chino Moreno, EL-P & Cage, and Greatest Mistake-Feat. John Oates & Jamie Cullum) try to do something different, and explore new regions of music.
Put together as a package, it’s like a variety show, only less insipid and insulting. It challenges people at their borders as it tries to erase the lines in the sand.
6) The Hidden Cameras - “Mississauga Goddamn”
I’ve never made my affection towards the Hidden Cameras a secret. Since the moment I first saw them back in late 2001 opening for Royal City at Lee’s Palace I was enraptured by them, and had I the time and money, I would follow them where ever they go, Dead-Head style.
While 2002 was devoid of any sort of commercially available music (save for Joel’s 4-Track bedroom self-release Ecce Homo) I had the CBC’s “Just Concerts” to thank for a live-in-session performance which I probably listened to a couple times a week which became the benchmark recording. So when they released “A Smell Of Our Own”, with it’s spacious echo-y sound and rather unenergetic vocals, I couldn’t help but be disappointed. I wasn’t feeling the Hidden Cameras in that recording, I was feeling studio engineers and button pushers. The fact that I knew all the songs after seeing them live so many times was all the more disappointing.
“Mississauga Goddamn”, on the other hand, corrects that mistake. New material mixed with old fuels the passion and excitement that one should feel when listening to their songs. Songs about such uncharacteristic topics as enemas and erections are made easily palatable by great orchestration and spiritually infused harmonies. You want to dance and sing along, and if you don’t you need surgery to get that pole remove from your rectum.
While the Hidden Cameras experience on record is not the same as in person, this album puts a concentrated dose of that joy out ther for your limitless consumption.
7) Modest Mouse - “Good News For People Who Love Bad News”
I had heard about Modest Mouse, but I’d not heard Modest Mouse, and frankly I didn’t really care to. What I’d heard about them wasn’t interesting me, wasn’t differentiating them from the three hundred other semi-popular indie-bands out there that I’d not gotten around to giving a chance to.
But one night, painting the bedroom of my new apartment, I was listening to a CBC Radio 3 concert that was all Modest Mouse, mostly tracks from their new album. Initially I was unimpressed.
Three days later I was humming songs I didn’t know and was freaking out because I needed to have them. I stepped into a record shop, and over the speakers I heard “the Good Times Are Killing Me” and everything fell together nicely.
The tracks are joyously downbeat. They’re sad but uplifting tales, dark dramas set against blue skies and green grass. It’s the Sound Of Music for the jaded hipster. Their most commercial album, apparently, with some radio friendly hits, but also I love 10 out of the 15 songs with equal zest. The other five, I like too, just not that much. Picking a favourite is hard… how do you rank a favourite five star song when they’re all five stars?
Some may feel that “Good News…” is too diverse, too inconsistent, but thematically it works so well. It never strays from the oxymoronic mission statement that is the album title. And even 7 months later it’s still exciting to listen to. I hate to attribute “classic” to anything, but I can see myself coming back to “Good News…” in five, ten, twenty years and still smiling a wry smile and nodding my head, shouting along to “Float On” at its ending apex.

near misses

Wha’ happened?
Joanna Newsom - “Milk-Eyed Mender”
This year’s critical darling number 1, and darling she is. With barely anything but her voice and her harp Newsom constructs a awkward but beautiful album. It’s the type of career-maker that one can never live up to. It’s really good but I can’t listen to the whole album straight in one sitting.
De La Soul - “The Grind Date”/”De La Mix Tape: Remixes, Classics and Rarities”
De La’s best new album since “Stakes Is High”, I’m gonna have to sit with “The Grind Date” for a bit before it’s greatness hits me. “Mix Tape” is awesome, and contains a half dozen tracks I’ve never heard before, and another half dozen mixes I’ve never heard. If this were an original ‘04 album it would have been top 7.
The Organ - “Grab That Gun”
I still love the Organ, and their music still does funny things to me, giving me feelings I’ve not had since I went through puberty, but “Grab That Gun” is half new material and half re-recorded songs from 2002’s “Sinking Hearts” ep, which kinda pissed me off. But damn, is it ever great stuff.
TV On The Radio - “Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes”
While few of the songs really jump out, the whole album overall is a powerful, energized and wholly original listen. It’s a little sparse at times, but soulful and awe inspiring. The only reason it didn’t make top 7… the Futureheads were just a little more exciting.
Feist - “Let It Die”
Critical darling number 2, Leslie Feist puts together an impressive debut, but, for me, the disparate sounding songs didn’t transition together well killing the flow. Like Newsom, Feist works better in a playlist.
MF Doom/Madvillain - “MM Food”/”Madvillain”
“MM Food” just came out, and I’ve not yet bought or digested it. Doom is always a challenge, a creeper which takes me a while to get into, so I doubt it would have made top 7 anyway. “Madvillain” on the other hand crops up in my subconscious from time to time, but just doesn’t have the evil power strong enough to stay there.
Stars - “Set Yourself On Fire”
Stars’ “Heart” took me a good long while to get into, and though “Set Yourself On Fire” has more of the same, there’s also an angry, violent edge to it that makes it a little tougher to digest. Not all softness and romance this time around.
The GO! Team - “Thunder, Lightning, Strike!”
The more I listen to them, the more I like them. In three months’ time I’m going to wish I’d put them top 7. They’re just not there yet.
Tom Waits - “Real Gone”
Tom Waits is never the easiest of listening, but Real Gone is in equal parts his easiest and most difficult album to get into. Leading off with a bouncy track complete with turntable scratches, it’s catchy and accessible. Not two songs later he chimes in with a 10 minute opus which seems daunting but goes down surprisingly easy. Shortly thereafter he sings a frightening song that would fit well on a chain gang. Not the cheeriest stuff but certainly engaging storytelling.

ouch…

…b-but they’re supposed to be good
The Fiery Furnaces - “The Blueberry Boat”
Art-rock pop-experimentalism bordering on annoying. The album is less about cuts and more about some rock-opera opus sans any consistent rhythm… and I’m all about rhythm so this is like nodding your head to a flushing toilet, doesn’t work for me.
!!! - “Louden Up Now”
Two-thirds of the alt-disco-beat-down-pop-punk record is engaging, danceable and fun… but their “Shit, Schiesse, Merde” parts 1, 2 and reprised kill it totally for me. And yeah, “Me and Guiliani…” is a great song (the best of 2003, in fact), but it’s treated like filler here, and gets a little lost.
I kinda knew that would happen.
Bjork - “Medulla”
An interesting experiment, Bjork eliminates all instruments except the human voice and some laptops to fuck around with vocal sounds. In concept it’s sounds brilliant, in execution it’s a first draft thesis, as an album interesting but forgettable.
The Streets - “A Grand Don’t Come For Free”
This is a hip-hop album, part comedy, part drama. It tells a story which apparently I’m supposed to care about but albums posing as novels/movies are a difficult thing to pull off. Despite what everyone else seems to think, it just doesn’t work for me. The rhyming is weak… and really that’s what it comes down to. Not a bad concept, not the right guy to pull it off.
A.C. Newman - “the Slow Wonder”
I love Newman’s old band, Zumpano, and his new band, the New Pornographers, but I really don’t like what he’s done on “the Slow Wonder”. Rather plodding pop songs that pale beneath the shadow of the New Pornos, which, whether you want to or not, you have to compare it against.
Not horrid, just blah.
Destroyer - “Your Blues”
If you want to listen to a Destroyer album, this isn’t the one to start with. A little like the music equivalent to “Alexander”.
The Magnetic Fields - “i”
Stephin Merritt is my absolute favourite songwriter out there, and “i” contains a pair of his best ever, but also one of his worst. But with a lack of theme that inspired his on the road trilogy (”Charm of the Highway Strip”, “Get Lost”, “Holiday”) and the “69 Love Songs” opus, “i” kinda just seems like a random assembly of good songs.
Not bad by any means, just didn’t meet my expectations.
Badly Drawn Boy - “One Plus One is One”
Damon Gough was the second coming back in 2000. “Hour of the Bewilderbeast” is one of the best records of the new millenium, but Jesus has he fallen off. The “About A Boy” soundtrack was a wonderful tease at what Gough could do with a budget, but “Have You Fed The Fish…” was a bloated and pretentious piece of wanna-be mainstream garbage. Gough’s desire to be a chart-topping pop star has blinded him about what made his music good in the first place. “One Plus One…” is not only mathematically incorrect but irritating and unlistenable at times.
Drive By Truckers - “The Dirty South”
It’s just not my thing.
Some people love them, but I’ve never been one for honkey-tonk… no matter how it’s presented.
Junior Boys - “Last Exit”
I’ve heard this album a hundred times over the past fifteen years from a hundred different artists. Can someone please explain to me what the big deal is because I’ve listened and it sounds like the same old same old… no better, no worse.